The semantics and pragmatics of Japanese plurals

本研究认为：1)日语“复数”后缀“TATI”和“RA”可能不同于英语中的复数形式“-S”，而不仅仅是加性复数(例如。Gakusei-Tati“学生”)，但也有联想复数(例如。Gakusei-Tati“学生和联系成员”)，类似复数(例如。Koko-ra“这里”)和协调的整体(例如。《TATI》和曾傑瑞-《TATI》阐明了两个动物在所指事件中的对称作用)；ii)TATI和RA可以传达单复数区分的中和；III)TATI和RA通常传达的确定性或特殊性在句法上不是由于隐含DP的投射，而是由于对适当使用联想复数的语用约束(这被分析为其基本意义)，根据这一点，依附于TATI或RA的宿主NP的所指应该比关联的隐含成员更加突出。

This study claims that i) Japanese "plural" suffixes TATI and RA may express, differently from English plural form "-s" as in "students", not only additive plural (ex. gakusei-tati "students"), but also associative plural (ex. gakusei-tati "student and associated members"), similative plural (ex. koko-ra "hereabout") and coordinated whole (ex. TATI in Tom and Jerry-tati clarifies that the two animals play a symmetric role in the event denoted);ii) TATI and RA may convey neutralization of singular / plural distinction;iii) the definiteness or specificity usually conveyed by TATI and RA is not due syntactically to the projection of an implicit DP, but to a pragmatic constraint imposed on an appropriate use of associative plural (which is analyzed as their basic meaning), according to which the referent of the host NP attached to TATI or RA should be more salient than associated implicit members.